


Stolen Away

by JadeNightTheWriter



Category: Keeper of the Lost Cities Series - Shannon Messenger
Genre: Alternate Universe, Awkward Flirting, Day 3: Pirates, Enemies to Lovers, F/F, Kam Week, Kam Week 2020, M/M, One Word Prompts, Oops, Pirate AU, Pirates, Pre-Slash, Two Shot, because apparently that's a thing, idk what to tag this?, idk why but that's my favorite trope, it's not angst but not really fluff either, so this turned out pretty long, there's that
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-02
Updated: 2020-12-02
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:15:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27835126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JadeNightTheWriter/pseuds/JadeNightTheWriter
Summary: “What am I going to do with you,” Tam grumbled. “You keep turning up and bothering us—god, Linh has a crush on your co-captain now—you do realize that we only got half the loot this time?”Keefe tossed his hair out of his eyes, squinting at the other man—teen, really. They all were much too young to be running their own ships, but here they were.“Wow, only half?” Keefe craned his neck to catch sight of a chest of gold. “Huh. You guys really do get a lot compared to the other pirate crews.”Or, Tam and Linh are pirates, and Keefe and Marella are supposed to capture them. Key word? Supposed.
Relationships: Keefe Sencen/Tam Song, Marella Redek/Linh Song
Comments: 14
Kudos: 23





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Pirates  
> Me: :(
> 
> Haha I'm not very good with AUs, but I like how this one turned out. (Ignore me shamelessly inserting background Marellinh-)

Keefe grinned up at the pirate captain, squinting in the bright sunlight. He tugged on his ropes, but they were tighter than last time—apparently they’d learned. 

The captain of the Shadowflux glared at him, his silver bangs obscuring his eyes. Keefe never could quite tell what color they were. They looked closer to slate grey today, he noted absently, not blue. 

“What am I going to do with you,” Tam grumbled. “You keep turning up and bothering us—god, Linh has a crush on your co-captain now—you do realize that we only got half the loot this time?”

Keefe tossed his hair out of his eyes, squinting at the other man—teen, really. They all were much too young to be running their own ships, but here they were.

“Wow, only half?” Keefe craned his neck to catch sight of a chest of gold. “Huh. You guys really do get a lot compared to the other pirate crews.”

“You didn’t answer my other question,” Tam snapped. He turned around to bark an order at someone else in a foreign language, then turned back to Keefe. “What the hell am I going to do with you?”

“Kill me?” Keefe offered cheerfully. 

Tam scowled. “I should, shouldn’t I? Gisela’s prize admiral, the leader of the Royal Navy.”

“And incredibly handsome,” Keefe added, winking.

Tam glared at him, and if Keefe didn’t know better he would have thought the Shade was blushing. 

“Ugh, you're insufferable,” Tam finally decided. He shouted something in the same language as before to a nearby crew member, and made his way swiftly over to the stern of the ship. Keefe watched as he called across the water to his twin sister, Linh, the captain of the Tsunami. 

After a brief exchange—during which all Keefe caught was ‘hostage’ and ‘navy’ and ‘cute’—cut short by Tam’s irritated shout, the pirate stalked over to him, glowering.

“Have you decided to let me go this time?” Keefe asked, beaming.

“No,” Tam said. He turned back to his crew. “Move out! We should be at the—” he glanced at Keefe and said a name, a  _ place _ , in the other language “—before dawn tomorrow. We take the prince with us.” 

“Yeah, about that,” Keefe said. Behind his back, out of Tam’s view, he had a knife out, steadily sawing through the rope. “How about…  _ no _ .”

Several shouts were all he heard as he leaped up and jumped overboard, before the water closed around his head. Keefe squinted through the clear ocean and dived down, heading toward the shore.  _ He _ wouldn’t follow him on land, not right after such a successful raid. 

Back aboard the Shadowflux, Captain Tam glared at the faint ripples on the ocean’s surface. 

“Should we chase him?” someone asked.

“No,” Tam said slowly. “Leave him be. We’ll catch him next time.” 

* * *

“Surrender your ships, and we’ll spare some of your crew’s lives.”

Tam and Linh were both standing at the bows of their respective ships, facing the massive Royal Navy head-on. A much smaller—but still impressive, for a pirate crew—fleet of vessels fanned out behind them, poised and ready to move at a second’s notice from their leaders.

“No,” Tam said, his voice ringing across the water. “And none of us will die here.” 

Linh narrowed her eyes to match his tone, the wind picking up and blowing her hair back. She raised her hand, and Tam knew every eye was trained on her. They knew how dangerous she could be.

There was a moment of perfect stillness, and then a huge wave reared up out of nowhere, slamming into the side of the Navy’s meticulous formation. 

It was designed to stand against cannons, not a wave controlled by a Hydrokinetic.

The shockwave was huge, Tam could feel it swelling up below the Shadowflux, threatening to carry her far away. Their crews were already moving, smoothly guiding the pirate ships over the massive tidal wave. The Royal Navy wasn't as lucky, or prepared. 

Over half of their ships were starting to sink toward the bottom of the ocean. It wasn’t very deep here—Tam made a mental note to send an expedition later, to scavenge for supplies. 

Linh immediately conjured up a smaller wave, a fluid weapon that she targeted specifically at the ships carrying gunpowder. The rest of their crew was already closing in on the remaining vessels, caging off their target for today. 

The two captains of the Royal Navy—Keefe and Marella—and an ancient hydrokinetic text, were all on board this one ship, Elementine. And they intended to capture her. 

Most of the sailors on board fled when they saw Tsunami and Shadowflux heading straight toward their ship. The deck was eerily silent as Tam and Linh descended, their boots landing on the wood with hard  _ click _ s.

They marched toward the double doors leading below deck, pausing only briefly to pull out their weapons. Tam went first, feeling the dark shadows whisper at the corners of his mind. He reached out, and felt a spark of light. 

“This way.”

He and Linh kept going. The unfamiliar corridors should have bothered them, but Tam kept his mind open, a firm control on every tiny shadow. His ability guided them into the very heart of the ship’s hull, through a labyrinth of walkways he suspected were to keep intruders like them out.

A crack of light peered through the bottom of the door, and Tam let a hand hover above the lock. In the dark, he could tell it was unlatched. 

He loaded his gun, holding it with one hand as he placed his other on the door handle. Linh preferred blades, but her sword was wickedly sharp, gleaming in the faint lamplight and undoubtedly just as deadly as his pistol. 

“Hands up!” he ordered, throwing the door open and stepping into the doorway.

Keefe and Marella started, leaping to their feet instinctively before the click of his gun stopped them.

“Linh, the scroll is in the chest under the bed. In the next room over,” Tam said, and turned his focus back to the figures in front of him. Keefe was watching him with equal parts amusement and wariness—too much of the former, in his opinion. Marella, on the other hand, had a hostile look on her face, tempered only slightly when Linh joined them, her bag noticeably containing something.

“Hi Sparky,” Linh teased, swinging her sword casually. “Nice room you had. I liked the phoenix tapestry.” 

Tam rolled his eyes. Leave it to Linh to sound genuine even as they held their enemies at gunpoint.

“Look Droplet,” Marella snarked back, although there was a softer edge to her tone. “I’m flattered, but not as much by your little brother. Can you get him to lower the gun? Blood looks terrible with my aesthetic.” 

“Sorry,” Linh shrugged. 

Marella sighed. “Worth a shot. So? Why are you here?”

“Oh you know, the usual. The kidnapping is new though,” Linh said. She flashed a smile, sharp as the waves in a storm. “If you’d be so kind as to come with me?”

Marella left with her without a fuss. Despite the fact that she was a Pyrokinetic, and probably had at least had a chance of escaping Linh, she followed the other girl without any restraints or threats.

“And you,” Tam said, turning back to Keefe. “Are coming with  _ me _ .”

“Oh?” Keefe batted his eyelashes at him. It was, frustratingly, very distracting. “Couldn’t you ask a little bit nicer?”

“No,” Tam snapped. He tipped his head at the door. “Out. No running, keep walking until we reach the deck. Then obey my crew’s orders.”

“But what if they’re mean to me?” Keefe asked sarcastically, as he made his way to the door. 

“Who cares?” Tam countered.

“Hmm~” Keefe paused in the doorway, and Tam stepped behind him, waiting for him to move. 

Quick as lightning, Keefe spun around and grabbed his wrist, the gun clattering to the floor a few feet away. Keefe’s face was inches from his, ice blue eyes staring straight at him. Tam could feel his heartbeat racing, as Keefe smiled, smug and teasing and way, way too genuine for Tam’s comfort. 

“Maybe you?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please don't kill me I swear that wasn't the end. I have a part 2, that'll be posted later today.
> 
> On a different note though, is "shockwave" proper word use? I don't know anything about sailing/pirate terms so please let me know -_-


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy~

Keefe was still holding Tam’s wrist, could feel every heartbeat, every emotion that passed through him. There was a pause, half a second as Tam remained frozen, and then the Shade snapped his fingers. 

Shadows—the dense, dark kind, although not quite shadowflux—flooded his mind, leaving a blank, white void of nothing. Keefe cursed as the pirate wrenched his arm away, and moments later the shape of a gun pressed into his back as the shadows lifted. 

“I hate you,” Keefe said.

“Me too,” Tam answered smoothly. “Now move.”

Keefe moved. They emerged onto the deck into blinding sunlight, and Keefe had to squint his eyes to see what was happening. Linh was firing off rapid orders—Keefe was rather offended when pirates started to work the ropes, on _his_ ship, preparing Elementine to join the main fleet. 

“We’ll need to waterproof and reinforce the cargo hold,” Linh was saying to a group of younger kids, ranging from toddlers to just under her own age. Keefe assumed either orphans, runaways, or children of the crew. 

“Come on Droplet, you can’t just _renovate_ our cargo hold,” Marella protested. She was sitting on top of a locked chest, perfectly at ease despite being surrounded by pirates. 

“Actually, Sparky, I can,” Linh said, sliding her double swords back into their sheaths. “And it’s _our_ ship now.”

“I hate pirates,” Marella decided, without any real heat. 

“Too late, you’re stuck with me,” Linh teased, blowing a kiss to the other girl. She sauntered off to check on something else, and Keefe raised an eyebrow at Tam.

“What,” the Shade snapped, brushing the bangs out of his eyes. 

“Your sister is too friendly with Marella,” Keefe informed him. “She’ll get killed one day.”

“I don’t need you looking out for her,” Tam retorted. “And Marella is… a special case, I guess.”

“Oh?”

Tam shrugged, finally pulling the gun away from Keefe’s back. “I don’t get involved with her personal business. We keep our lives as separate as possible. If one of us were to be captured, we need as little connections as possible.” 

“That’s a bit dark,” Keefe said, eyeing the holster Tam placed the pistol in warily.

“I’m a pirate,” Tam scoffed. “Of course it is. I’m on the run from the law. Which, if I may add, is you?” 

“Not _me_ ,” Keefe argued. “I don’t make the laws.”

“You might as well, with the power you have,” Tam observed bitterly. “Follow Glimmer. She’ll take you to your room.” 

“You mean prison cell?” Keefe grumbled. 

“Actually, no,” Tam corrected him. “It’s not comfortable, but you’ll live.”

“How kind,” Keefe huffed as he followed a hooded figure—Glimmer, he assumed. He wondered if he had just imagined the half-smile on Tam’s face as he turned away. 

Sometime later, Keefe was lying on his bed, sketching. His cabin on the Shadowflux was small, with a bed that took up most of the space, but it was larger than he had expected. Tam had also brought him his drawing supplies, which… Keefe wasn’t really sure what to think about that.

Marella was staying on the Tsunami, with Linh, which he had learned when Tam dropped off his various sketchbooks and pencils. 

Somehow, as they always tended to do when Keefe was alone, his thoughts had wandered back to Tam. It was ridiculously frustrating, how his silver-blue eyes and rare half-smiles kept appearing, like the shadows he controlled, always slipping through his mental defenses. 

Keefe let himself flop face-first onto the bed, his sheets of paper scattering on the floor. He made a muffled, distressed noise against the pillow. Feelings were the worst. Especially when they were for your enemy-friend-ish. 

He very pointedly ignored addressing what said feelings _were_. That could be ignored just fine. 

Keefe lifted his head at the sound of the door’s lock opening, caught sight of the subtle silver embroidery on the jacket Tam always wore, and let it flop back down. 

“Should I be proud of myself that you’re this miserable?” Tam’s voice said. “Or should I be worried?”

“Worried,” Keefe answered. “I’m suffering.” 

“Of what?” Tam asked dryly. “I was under the impression that you were always insufferably happy.”

“Feelings,” Keefe said. “They suck.” 

“True,” Tam agreed, surprising him. “I thought you might want this.”

Keefe sat up and shuffled his papers into a messy pile, before gingerly picking up the object offered to him. It was a glass bottle, and shockingly heavy, filled with a dark black liquid.

“What is this, poison?” he muttered, picking it up to examine the label. “Oh, it’s _ink_.”

“I found it with the supplies from the last raid,” Tam said, without meeting his eyes. “Thought you might like it.” 

“Aww,” Keefe cooed. “Thanks Tammy. Oh hey, it’s the good stuff too.” 

“Sure,” Tam mumbled. “I guess… don’t spill it everywhere.” 

“Mmm,” Keefe nodded absently. “Hey Tam—”

But when he looked up, the Shade was already gone. 

* * *

Tam didn’t _dislike_ being a pirate. It was much better than living under his parents, and under the royal family. He and Linh had taken over from Prentice when they were banished, and implemented a new rule. The only ships touched would be royal property. 

He couldn’t say he liked it either though. They were constantly watching their backs, always on the lookout for the lodestar flag of the Royal Navy. And additionally, in more recent years, Keefe and Marella. 

His footsteps echoed loudly as he walked across the deck to the railing, leaning on it to watch the dark waves. Moonlight caught on each swell, little white sparkles dancing in his peripheral vision. 

A pair of arms circled him from behind, and a warm face was pressed into his neck. 

“Something on your mind, Bangs Boy?”

Tam barely stopped himself from flinching, instead settling for glaring at Keefe. The Empath just smirked at him.

“How did you get out?” Tam asked, more tired than anything. 

Keefe shrugged. “Glimmer.” 

Tam glowered at the water. “I’m going to _kill_ her.”

“Aww, but you really won’t,” Keefe said. He still hadn’t let go, and Tam was very much _not_ going to think about that.

“I just might,” Tam argued. “And let go. You’re like one of those monkeys at the ports.” 

“I’d rather be a koala,” Keefe said. 

“Let go or I’m putting you back in your room,” Tam offered. “And stop reading my emotions, I just know you are.” 

“Fine,” Keefe relented, sounding far too amused for Tam’s comfort. 

Tam relaxed slightly as the warmth from his hold vanished, turning to face the other boy.

“So?” Tam demanded. “Are you here to escape and return to mommy dearest?”

“No,” Keefe said.

“No?”

He shrugged, a smile crossing his face. “Has it ever occurred to you, Captain Tam, that the Royal Navy was an escape for me? That maybe I was hoping a pair of terrifying pirate twins would show up and give me an excuse to leave the palace? That possibly, I hated being locked up inside? And maybe that’s why I spent so much time on the ocean?”

Tam stared at him. 

“ _Maybe_ ,” Keefe continued, his voice dropping lower and adopting a teasing tone, “I liked seeing a certain silver haired pirate.” 

“Or maybe,” Tam interjected, trying to ignore his heart racing in his chest. “You’re trying to catch me off guard so you can run.”

“Of course,” Keefe said, beaming. “This is all purely hypothetical.”

Tam scoffed. "Of course."

“But I’m staying,” Keefe finished brightly. “You captured me, and now you’re stuck with me.”

“What a disappointment,” Tam shot back, almost instinctively. 

Keefe just grinned brightly, “You’re lying.”

“W- no I’m not.” 

Keefe tapped his wrist lightly, still smiling smugly.

Tam cursed himself for letting down his guard around Keefe—especially enough for him to get _this close_ —how had that happened?

“I hate you,” Tam said, glaring.

“Liar~”

Keefe laced his fingers with his, leaning against Tam’s shoulder. Tam _just barely_ stopped himself from having a panic attack. 

“I love you too.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know that "we're enemies but you know more secrets than my friends" dynamic? Kam vibes. And I'm apparently obsessed with the glimmer-is-a-kam-shipper thing that my mind conjured out of nowhere.
> 
> I really like this AU, so I might do some extra drabbles now and then. We'll see.
> 
> What did you all think? I don't normally make such huge AU changes, and the worldbuilding for this was done at 1am, so... any constructive criticism? (Or typos ^-^;)


End file.
